Feminist Poet and Activist Robin Morgan Dies at 85

Robin Morgan, a poet, editor, and second wave feminist, has died at the age of 85. Her death was confirmed on Saturday by the Women's Media Center, an organization she co-founded with Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem. The announcement did not specify the date, location, or cause of death.

Morgan began her public life as a child star in the 1940s and 1950s before becoming a radical activist. She is recognized as one of the architects of the contemporary women's movement. In 1968, she helped organize the first protest against the Miss America pageant. She also edited the 1970 anthology Sisterhood Is Powerful, which is regarded as an essential text of the modern women's movement. Morgan is widely credited with coining the term herstory and popularizing the clenched fist and female symbol icon.

Throughout her career, Morgan challenged various establishments. She was arrested and jailed in 1970 for occupying the offices of Grove Press to support employees' efforts to unionize. In her essay Goodbye to All That, she criticized figures such as Hugh Hefner and Abbie Hoffman. Her literary work includes the poetry collection Monster and the memoir Saturday's Child. She also served as the editor in chief of Ms magazine.

In her personal life, Morgan was married for over 20 years to the gay poet Kenneth Pitchford, with whom she had a son, Blake Morgan. She described her marriage as a two member commune and noted that she faced criticism from both feminists and conservatives regarding her sexual identity.